“He just arrived, like a lot of freshmen, believing that he’s going to save us from ourselves… He probably thinks he’s going to work his way to the White House. And he’s not alone in that.” – Sen. Carolyn Allen, a Republican from Scottsdale, speaking Oct. 28 about the approach taken by Rep. Carl Seel and other new lawmakers in the 2009 legislative session.

“You can’t refuse to do anything for 15 years – both Republicans and Democrats – and then claim ‘the people have spoken.'” – Tucson Sen. Jonathan Paton, blasting the Tucson City Council’s reluctance to send a referral to the ballot to allow citizens to end the city’s practice of partisan races for local office.

“I feel it’s a very specious argument to say it makes things more partisan, certainly coming from the Legislature, which is about as partisan as it comes.” – Tucson City Councilwoman Nina Trasoff, reacting to claims that partisan races have made the council needlessly political.

“The only reason why I ran is I felt called to run, and God put me there. I don’t necessarily want to come across as some Bible-thumping guy, because I am.” – Rep. Carl Seel, a Republican from Phoenix, in an Oct. 26 interview.

“Quite frankly, because I was the only Japanese-American boy growing up here in the barrios, and I spoke Spanish, I was seen more as a Mexican-American by the other children.” – Henry “Hank” Oyama, an American of Japanese descent who challenged Arizona’s miscegenation law with the help of ACLU-Arizona 50 years ago.